The Western Force have completed the overhaul of their Super Rugby backline for the 2013 season with the signing of Waikato flyhalf Sam Christie who claimed the final Extended Playing Squad contract for 2013.

With the 2013 Super Rugby season just around the corner the fixture list of all warm up games has been released.

Some teams have opted for tougher opponents and some less so, much of course depending on their requirements and strategies they have planned for. The tournament itself kicks off on the 15 February 2013.

With most of the pre-season fitness programmes out of the way, the next few weeks will be vital as each side starts to focus on honing their game ahead of another grueling season. Teams will be trying to get their best combinations together as to find cohesion, coaches of course will hope not to pick up injuries as some teams are starting the season with numerous injured stars.

The departure of Andries Strauss to the Kings, and the arrival of Johann Sadie, will ensure a new midfield combination. There is talk of Robert Ebersohn reverting back to inside centre where he played at school level, and using Johann Sadie at outside centre. This could be an enticing option, but there are however other possibilities.

In this Article we look at the contenders for CENTRES at the Sharks 2013 Super Rugby group.

The Sharks for the first time in a long time have a solid midfield, and to top it they have more than one option, the secret though is going to be which combination would suit the team’s dynamics the best.

I would like to try and explain the two centre position as many seem to get confused between the two, for example,“ What kind of player would you want at inside centre or outside centre” contrary to many beliefs in my opinion the center combination should be 2 players with different skill sets.

South Africa is blessed with some wonderful centres at the moment, and the lads in the Stormers squad are no exception. Springbok Captain Jean de Villiers again wears the Captains band for the Stormers, even though Schalk Burger is expected back from a long injury lay-off a couple of weeks into the season.

Vernon Philander has closed the gap on countryman Dale Steyn as the pair retained the top two spots in the International Cricket Council (ICC) Test rankings for bowlers in the latest global ratings list released on Monday.